Ballenas, playas, pescar, y una clima muy calor

My trip with Fer panned out and on Thursday night we left for the beach from Quito by bus. I thought it was pretty interesting that I was patted down as I got on the bus but I made me feel pretty secure. The bus kinda felt like a plane ride… we were given a drink with a snack and then a guitarist played songs for us. However, I think those were about the best parts on the ride which lasted over 6 hours. This normally is not too bad by any means. The seats were pretty comfortable but still hard for the giant I am in this country. The real problem was, though, as we descended into the lowlands, the air soon became unbelievably hot and humid. Unfortunately, I did not know I needed to store a backpack below the bus so I did not have any clothes to change into. I will tell you, I do not think I have ever gotten sick on a moving vehicle of any kind … roller coasters, buses, whatever. But if there were a time in my life when I thought I was going to, it probably would have been then. Somehow with the constant whipping around curves through the valleys and mountains, the constant going up and down, the temperature inside the bus, and the movie which also was not helping, I still did not get sick. Luckily at about the 4^th hour I was able to sleep and some rain came to cool things off a little tiny bit. After leaving at about 6:30pm, we got to Same at about 2:00, a smaller town next to the big town Esmeraldas.

It was quite hot, but I missed the heat that I was not getting in Quito. I did not really sleep to well and got up about 6am. After having a nice breakfast and walking the beach and seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time, we drove into Same for some food and then into Altacamens, another bigger town, to visit it. There were lots of people here unlike Same. As we drove through the night earlier to get to Same from Esmereldas, I did not understand why we were driving through so many side streets. Then that morning, I saw why… earlier in the year a truck had collapsed the bridge and smaller one way bridge was built … but to know how to get there, even I don’t know if I could the first few times.

Oh, I forgot to say Fer and I went to stay with her friend (Vane) and mom who invited us to their condo or whatever in Same – they were our transportation.

After returning and almost buying a dress for Katie that the others wanted to buy (I don’t like shopping and don’t think I could ever buy clothes for women), we basically just enjoyed the very hot day at the beach by drinking our cocoanut “water” playing in the warm water, and walking the beach. I was thinking about seeing some whales and doing some fishing, but since we were in a nicer area, the prices were higher. I thought it was pretty ridiculous to pay 50 for only one hour of fishing. Thus, we asked a local if I could go with him in his 14 foot wooden canoe. He said absolutely and said it would only be $5 though I ended up giving him $10. That next morning. I went out on the pacific ocean with Ignacio and a kid probably about 11 years old. They were probably 20 fishermen out that day whose ocean waves were very calm (the ocean was calm every day … I guess that is why it is called the Pacific) (Oh, and on another side note, I did investigating with Vane’s mom on the safety of this --- I was a bit nervous since it was only a small boat, but the ocean was as I said very calm.). We went out … I just sat in the front while the other stood and rowed … I probably would have fallen over had I done this. We went out about half a mile and got to our net where they started taking in about 2 football field’s worth of net. The day ended up being not so good but I still learned a lot about what they caught and what things were good. On the way back we put out the net in a different area and headed back in while Ignacio called to his buddies yelling their nicknames as we went past them. After the fishing, I was lured into trying to see the whales after a lowering of the price to $10 and a guarantee of seeing the whales or not having to pay. The trip was supposed to consist of 15 min going out to sea, 30 min of watching, and 15 minutes returning. However, what really happened was 1 hour or more going out to see … I almost could not see land any more, 55 minutes of running around a general area looking for whales, 5 minutes of viewing time of whales that we found, and another hour to return. Unfortunately I was not able to really get any pictures … the captain said he took pictures for me (and I did not check) so I did not take anymore since it was pretty wet and were few opportunities to take a picture. (Oh and since I don’t have a picture of the boat either, picture something like the old Four Wins. It was a bit smaller in length, sat lower and was holding about 14 people.)

I did not get sea sick after being at sea for almost 5 hours that morning (with the fishing too), but I was really happy to be on land again and was completely exhausted. I got back and rested the rest of the day while also being buried in the sand.

Sunday, the last day, would prove to be very action-packed even though we were leaving at 3:00pm. That morning, I went with the guy that took me fishing with his brother and his brother’s son to their finka, where they grew all kinds of fruits and where his brother and dad lived. We hiked around for about 2 hours exploring the land. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was really thankful for being able to do this. After taking many, many pictures, (I think I took about 180 that weekend) including some of the family that helped me, I returned to the others watching the 2^nd half of “the game” against England. (I was supposed to get back to see the whole game, but I did not mind being late considering what I was able to do). Though Ecuador played really well, they ended up losing 1-0. It was a bit sad for me and tough for many Ecuadorians though they definitely can be proud. This game eliminated them from the World Cup – so I guess I won’t be getting any more days off.

The bus ride back was much more enjoyable and entertaining. It was air-conditioned for about and hour and we got free entertainment next to us watching about 8 in front of us become a bit drunk.

After getting home safely at 10, I collapsed in my bed after a much enjoyed weekend.

Before the weekend, David was leaving on Thursday for Michigan to go to school in GR. One of the nights during the week, he had all his friends over for a good-bye. This picture is in our house in the formal dining room and was taken after I and 2 others beat everyone in a soccer tournament in the yard outside -- this is why everyone looks so tired since they had to work so hard to play against my team.
One form of transportation at the beach -- some with motors, some not.
After walking in the sun and applying 3 times sunscreen in 1 hour, I sat down to drink the very refreshing water of a young cocoanut. (It's not the normal "milk"since it is so young) . Apparently the locals drink this like water, especially since this is not going to have any bugs or contaminants in it. I think I ended up having about 4 while there --- the only problem was that I am pretty sure it was a diruretic -- I had to go to the bathroom many times. In the background, you can see the guard who cut down the cocoanuts with a mechede from the trees right on the resort.
A view of the beach at Same
The bridge in Altacamens
A neat sunset photo.
Being buried after getting off the boats and wanting to sleep (at least that was my intention). On the right you can see "Se vende". They were trying to sell me.
Trying to catch all the crabs creatures that were on the beach. I was not very successful then but was later at night
The boat I went on to go fishing as well as Ignacio on the right and the kid on the left. This is the day after(Sunday) --- I did not dare take my camara out on the ocean to take pictures as much as I wanted to. This day for Igancio was much better catching lots of giant shrimp -type fish as well as fish, some crabs, and a squid. You can see everyone working to get the catch out of the net. When I was fishing, Ignacio and the kid just got the catch out of the net right at see so I could see everything right there fresh out of the ocean.
This is probably what I look liked on the boat on the ocean minus one person since there is only 2. Also, this is a bit different since the boat is close to shore.
Sunset
No these are not mascotas for friendship and loyalty, they are food. This was at the finka.
A friend we found on the path.
I have tons of pictures of the finka, which was nestled between to large hils.
Me, very hot in the finka
The house where the brother stayed in.